shauna and stephen's loft living

I'm certainly not the first to be captivated by the images of, Shauna Alterio & Stephen Loidolt {something's hiding in here} Philidelphia loft. Not by a long shot. You may remember this couple~those of the porch-swing-in-the-bedroom-heard-round-the-blog-world?

Every time I stumble across photos of their home, I find more to love about it. Every bit of the space seems, curated in this effortless kind of way that I, personally, would be hard pressed to attain. The kind of place, that if invited, I would want to be left alone, silently taking it all in. It's playful yet sophisticated in its intention... and not an inch of it predictable. Like a liveable design lab. The best foundation for any design direction, in my book.

One of the things that I admire is their innovation and resourcefulness. They depend largely on found items, ikea, craig's list, etc.



before....love the birds

and after....I'm not sure which I like more... maybe the after if only because I love the color, the new book shelf space and how well it showcases the globe collection.

all in all, gorgeous. creative and inspiring.

if you haven't already, check out their fantastic blog: something's hiding in here

ssssshhhhhh.....it's library porn

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek Weimar II, Germany

Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag, the Hague, Netherlands

Strahov Philosophical Hall

Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., USA

Strahov Theological Hall - Original Baroque Cabinet

Theology Room at St. Deiniol’s library, North Wales

Hereford Cathedral Chained Library, Hereford, England (Rare books were once kept chained to the bookshelf to prevent stealing.)

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria

Library of the National Palace of Mafra, Portugal

St. Florian Monastery-Library, Austria

Joanina LIbrary University of Coimbra, Portugal

want more?

check out "The Most Beautiful Libraries In The World"

all photos found here

added by bonjour brookline:

Poetry at Beinecke Library, Yale University

Karina Garrick

Growing up, I used to love to arrange little vignettes in my bedroom recording them with my Polaroid one-step and then cataloging {can't believe I'm admitting to this publicly} them in my "Little Twin Star" photo album.

{another large horse. why am I so drawn to the giant equine-look lately? Any psycho-analysts or Jungians in the crowd, wanna take a shot at that? Remember, I get to moderate all comments }

Future control freak? or Future stylist?

In my case, a little of both I think {erring more on the former, if you ask my children}

In the case of Karina Garrick, no doubt about it, 100% stylist {and interior designer, and art director, and stylist, and creative image consultant....basically, my job-idol}

to view more of Garrick's vast body of work *go*here*

orange crush

big, clunky, slow....and suddenly beautiful again.
the 500 model rotary dial desk phone. $80.00

gettin' your heart on

Remember that 'Real World-London' episode when the 'cheeky' punk girlfriend gives her punk rocker boyfriend a pig's heart for Valentine's day? So gross.

Couldn't find a picture of that charming couple but joel and clementine will do. I'm sure they'd love the idea below, in fact:

This year make your own anatomically correct heart for your favorite valentine.Who knew that a throbbing, veiny organ {did I just really write that?} in your chest, {IN YOUR CHEST people}.... could look this cute. And the ideas are endless.

here's the template so generously created and supplied by cheekymagpie.com

thank you cheeky magpie~

picky, picky

Most of my pet peeves are around manners. In particular, poor table/eating related manners. Seeing someone, hike up the waist of their pants over a food swollen belly as they grab for a toothpick, while walking out of a restaurant.....makes me glower with disdain.

The only thing worse, is seeing that same person, 2 seconds later as they swagger out the front door, toothpick dangling from their bottom lip {wait, let's make it really bad~ add a blue tooth attached to the ear} smiling a gluttonous smile. I know. It's my own personal hell. I'm probably alone in this peeve.

which is why it takes a really great design to make me think,

'wow, now that's cool' about a toothpick holder.

This was designed for a take and bake product by 'cruet and whisk'

{so all that errant picking of food would, in theory, be done at home. Away from me.}

Design by Allison Newhouse of Duffy & Partners.

can't quit looking

from the loeffler randall, fall '08 lookbook

I love how french, late 60s early 70s, just rolled out of bed the hair and make-up is.

beautiful designs taken one step further with glorious styling.

shinzi katoh tape

This week is a busy one socially~ lots of kids' birthday parties, lots of wrapping to be done. I would love to have a bit of this on hand to swaddle the gifts:

from Japanese artist Shinzi Katoh {a favorite of mine}

happy friends and rabbit train tape~ $7.00 rare device

white dots on red paper~ $2.25 paper source

I dream of genies

Tired of using and hearing the term, "genius!",

my friends and I shortened it to, "genie", "you're a genie" or sometimes, "genie in a bottle" {usually said with little or no emotion. i'm not sure why, but that's how it's done }

the following are a few product designs that I find super genie~

Snap and Dine~ generally, this term is more about how I serve up dinner at my house. I think grade schools should make this mandatory in the lunch line.

product designer: demelza hill

Hamster Shredder~terrible name. we used to have a pet mouse named 'tooth' {it was white} how handy would this have been? shreds the paper for you as it runs on the wheel.

genie, tom,

pure genie.

product designer: tom ballhatchet

Flying Carpet~ any of the corners can be rearranged over the wedges, for a comfortable little putting green to hang out, eat your cereal, wear your red pants, drink some brown stuff and watch a little T to the V.

product designer: emili ana design studio

Fading Page A Day Calendar~ the ink fades as the day passes. Kind of like eye liner.

product designer: shiyuan

Glide Toaster~ sometimes you have to shorten, "brizilliant" to "brazil". this would be one of those times.

bread goes in to the ceramic toaster and gllllliddddes on through to the holder.

brazil.

product designer: george watson

"Central Park" wallpaper~ Don't just speed pass this. Come in closer....closer. Rats and fire hydrants. Do you see them? All wrapped up and pretty.

Someone please put this in your guest bathroom. I don't really do gold, so not me, but the humor in this is wonderfully passive.

product designer: dan funderburgh

Little Field of Flowers~ then there's the king, die-cut, cool product design genie himself: Tord Boontje.

Die-cut, wool felt flower rug.

Comes in autumn red too! Tord you're a brazil genie in my book.

product designer: Tord Boontje